Apparatus and process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto an axle

Abstract: An apparatus (10) for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly (1) onto an axel with high precision without eccentrically arranging the assembly from the axel, comprises a pair of opposite clasping members (11,12) sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly from its side surface therebetween, a vibration applying machine (14) fixed to one of the clasping members (11), and a fastening means (16) for temporarily fastening the clasping members at a given position.

Description: This invention relates to an apparatus and a process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto an axel, and more particularly to an apparatus and a process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto an axel which can permit the mounting of the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel of a vehicle in a short time while precisely arranging a center of a rotating axis in the tire-wheel assembly with a center of the axel in the vehicle in a straight line, and which can contribute to improve vibration properties in the running of the vehicle and resistance to uneven wear of the vehicle tires, and in which it is in particular possible to maintain adequately corrected static and dynamic unbalancing quantities in the tire-wheel assembly even after the assembly is mounted onto the vehicle. US-A-2 792 139 discloses an apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 and a process according to the preamble of claim 8. A known method of mounting a tire-wheel assembly onto an axel of a vehicle will be described below with reference to Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings, which comprises a one-side section of a main mounting portion. As shown in Fig. 7, a slight clearance is formed in a hub hole (center hole) in a wheel disc portion 3d of the tire-wheel assembly (not shown) with respect to a cylindrical protrusion 5a in a hub 5 of the axel side, so that the tire-wheel assembly is applied onto the hub 5 by passing plural hub bolts 6 (4-6 bolts in the case of a passenger car) equally disposed on the hub 5 at a given pitch circle diameter (PCD) through respective bolt holes 9 formed in the disc portion 3d at the same PCD. Then, a fastening nut 7 is screwed around each of the hub bolts 6 and sufficiently clamped so as to fully contact the disc portion 3d to a contacting surface 5b of the hub 5 or fully contact a projecting portion formed around the bolt hole 9 to the contacting surface 5b in the illustrated embodiment, whereby the mounting of the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel is completed. As shown in Fig. 7, a tip portion of the fastening nut 7 mainly used in light vehicles, passenger cars and small size trucks has a taper seat 8, while the bolt hole 9 of the disc portion 3d has a taper seat having a shape corresponding to the shape of the taper seat 8. In the clamping of the nut 7, therefore, the taper seat of the tip portion of the nut 7 and the taper seat of the bolt hole 9 themselves act to exhibit centering behaviour with respect to each other. Consequently, the tire-wheel assembly can adequately be mounted onto the axel of the vehicle without eccentricity from a center Cx of the axel. Instead of the centering through the taper seat, a spherical seat (not shown) may be formed in the tip portion of the nut 7 and also a seat having the same spherical shape as in the tip portion may be formed in the bolt hole, whereby adequate mounting of the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel can be practiced. Further, the mounting of the tire-wheel assembly through a so-called wheel bolt instead of the fastening nut 7 is widely carried out, in which a taper seat having the same shape as in the taper seat 8 of the nut 7 is formed on the head portion of the bolt for conducting the centering. There are well-known the following three methods of clamping the fastening nut 7 or the wheel bolt in the mounting of the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel. Firstly, there is a general method wherein the fastening nut 7 or the wheel bolt is usually screwed to a certain extent through a wrench and then clamped under a given uniform torque through a torque wrench. Secondly, there is a method of simultaneously clamping plural fastening nuts 7 or the wheel bolts through a specific torque wrench, which is a special method adopted by automobile manufacturers aiming at the reduction of time required for the mounting of the tire-wheel assembly. Thirdly, there is a method suitable for skilled workers wherein the fastening nut 7 or the wheel bolt is gradually clamped at positions corresponding to a diagonal line or opposite positions near thereto until the loosening of the nut 7 or the wheel bolt is removed while striking a tire of the tire-wheel assembly by hand or rotating the assembly and then the nuts 7 or the wheel bolts located at opposite positions are completely clamped through a torque wrench. The tire-wheel assembly has a fairly heavy weight. For example, when the tire is a radial tire for passenger cars having a tire size of 205/65R15 and the wheel is an aluminium wheel having a rim contour of 5 l/2J, the tire-wheel assembly has a weight of about 15 kg. Since a braking device for the vehicle should be arranged inside the tire-wheel assembly, the disc portion 3d of the wheel contacting with the hub 5 is offset toward the outside of the vehicle irrespective of whether the vehicle is a passenger car or a truck or bus. As a result, the center of gravity in the tire-wheel assembly as a whole shifts at a position outward from an equatorial plane of the tire dividing the tire into two parts in the widthwise direction thereof. Since the total weight of the tire-wheel assembly is heavy and the center of gravity of the assembly is offset outward from the mounting position, the moment of shifting the center of gravity downward from the center of the rotating axis in the axel of the vehicle always acts to the tire-wheel assembly at a state of contacting with the hub 5. When the fastening nut 7 or the wheel bolt is more clamped at such a state, the above moment overcomes the guiding action of the taper seat or spherical seat and hence both the centers of the rotating axis of the vehicle axel and the tire-wheel assembly become eccentric with respect to each other without being arranged in the same straight line. That is, the tire-wheel assembly is mounted onto the vehicle axel at an eccentric state of the center of gravity of the assembly from the center of the rotating axis of the vehicle axel. When the vehicle is run at such an eccentric state, exciting force is applied to the vehicle from a lower side of a suspension system to create vibrations on the vehicle and also exciting force is applied to the tread rubber of the tire to create uneven wear. As a result, the effect of correcting static and dynamic unbalance quantities of the tire-wheel assembly to zero or near to zero before the mounting onto the vehicle for the control of vibrations during the running of the vehicle and the prevention of uneven wear of the tread rubber is adversely affected and also the vibration properties and the resistance to uneven wear in the vehicle provided with the tire-wheel assembly having insufficient corrected unbalance quantities are considerably degraded. If the eccentric quantity is large, the exciting force creates a considerably large stress in the hub bolt 6 in addition to the simple degradation of the vibration properties during high-speed running. In this case, the bolt 6 or the nut 7 is worn or occasionally creates fatigue breakage under the action of large repetitive stress and hence there is caused a danger of the tire falling off from the vehicle during running. This tendency becomes remarkable when the weight of the tire-wheel assembly is heavy. The relationship between the vibration of the vehicle, uneven wear of the tread rubber and the afore-mentioned mounting methods of the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel has been investigated by comparison between the first to third methods, from which it is confirmed that the third method is superior to the first and second methods. However, the mounting work by the third method takes a long time and requires intuition based on the skilled worker's experience, so that it can not be said that the third method is in general use. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto an axel which can mount the tire-wheel assembly onto the vehicle axel with high precision without requiring high skill and depending upon the weight of the assembly and rendering the assembly into an eccentric state. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto an axel, comprising a pair of opposite clasping members for sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly between its side surfaces, the distance between the clasping members being adjustable, characterised by a vibration applying machine fixed to one of the clasping members, and a fastening means for temporarily fastening the clasping members at a position of sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly. In preferred embodiments of the invention, one of the clasping members is provided at its end side with a guide hole or a guide groove slidably guiding the other clasping member along the clasping direction of the tire-wheel assembly, and the fastening means is a slide-preventive member slidably engaging with an elongate hole formed in the clasping member to be guided so as to extend in the clasping direction thereof and preventing the sliding between mutual clasping members at the position of sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly. The slide-preventive member may be suitably comprised of a sleeve bearing provided with a flange contactly engaging with a peripheral portion of the elongate hole and slidably fitting to the elongate hole, a cam-shaped member provided with a shaft portion rotatably supported by the bearing, a handle for rotating the cam-shaped member, a nut fastening the sleeve bearing to the clasping member and a nut fastening the shaft portion to the sleeve bearing. Alternatively, the slide-preventive member may be comprised of a bolt slidably fitting to the elongate hole and a nut-shaped member contactly engaging with the peripheral portion of the elongate hole. In other preferred embodiments, the pair of the clasping members are a pair of arm members, and one of the arm members is fixed to an end portion of a rod member and the other arm member is slidably attached to the rod member, and the fastening means is comprised of a male portion threaded on the rod member and a female member engaging with the male portion and capable of pushing one of the clasping members at the position of sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto an axel of a vehicle, which comprises temporarily and loosely mounting the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel of the vehicle through fastening nuts or wheel bolts, applying a pair of opposite clasping members to both side surfaces of the tire-wheel assembly, the distance between the clasping members being adjustable, temporarily fastening the clasping members through a fastening means so as to hold an applied state of the clasping member to the tire-wheel assembly, characterised in that vibration is applied to the clasping members through a vibration applying machine fixed to one of the clasping members, and successively and completely clamping all of the fastening nuts or the wheel bolts while vibrating the tire-wheel assembly by the vibration applying machine to accurately arrange a center of rotating axis of the tire-wheel assembly and a center of rotating axis of the vehicle axel in a straight line. The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view partly shown in section of a first embodiment of a mounting assist apparatus according to the invention together with a tire-wheel assembly; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mounting assist apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the mounting assist apparatus taken along a line III-III of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a schematic partial view illustrating another state of the mounting assist apparatus; Fig. 5 is a side view partly shown in section of a second embodiment of a mounting assist apparatus according to the invention together with a tire-wheel assembly; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the mounting assist apparatus shown in Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a main part of a disc portion of a tire-wheel assembly mounted onto a hub portion of an axel. In the apparatus and process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly onto a vehicle axel according to the invention, the tire-wheel assembly inflated under a given internal pressure (higher or lower pressure in addition to standard internal pressure) (hereinafter abbreviated as an assembly) is temporarily and loosely mounted onto the axel of the vehicle (hub portion) through fastening nuts or wheel bolts, and sandwiched from its side surfaces between a pair of opposite clasping members wherein the distance between the clasping members is adjustable, and the clasping members are temporarily fastened at a position of sandwiching the assembly, and then a vibration applying machine fixed to one of the clasping members is actuated to vibrate the assembly at a given frequency as far as a clearance is existent between a tip portion of the fastening nut and the bolt hole of the wheel or between a head portion of the wheel bolt and the bolt hole. The continuation of vibration applied to the assembly so as to move the assembly by the above clearance acts to apparently overcome the eccentricity of the center of gravity of the assembly, so that all of the fastening nuts or the wheel bolts are successively clamped little by little under the action of vibration, whereby the clamping force of the seat of each fastening nut or wheel bolt to the seat of each bolt hole in the disc portion can be rendered into an equal value and also the distribution of clamping pressure between the opposed seats over the full surface can be made equal. As a result, the assembly can be mounted onto the axel while arranging the axial lines of the assembly and the axel in a straight line without causing a difference in the rotating axis between the assembly and the axel. Thus, the vehicle provided with the assembly having at least a previously corrected unbalance quantity can develop good comfortability during running without causing vibration phenomenon and completely eliminates any danger of causing an accident based on vibrations during the running. Further, the occurrence of uneven wear in the tire based on eccentric vibration can be prevented during the running of the vehicle. In the pair of the clasping members, one of the clasping members may be suitably provided at its end portion with a guide hole or guide groove, e.g. a dovetail groove guiding the other clasping member along the clasping direction of the assembly. When both the clasping members are slidably engaged with each other through the guide hole or guide groove, the assembly can easily be sandwiched from both side surfaces across the tread between the clasping members. Further, when a slide-preventive member is slidably engaged with an elongate hole formed in the clasping member to be guided so as to extend in the clasping direction, mutual sliding between the clasping members can be prevented at the position of sandwiching the assembly to reliably apply the exciting force to the assembly. In a preferred embodiment, a shaft portion of the cam-shaped member is supported by the sleeve bearing slidably fitting to the elongate hole, while the bearing is fastened to the clasping member through a nut and separately fastened to the shaft portion through a nut. In this case, when a handle rotating the cam-shaped member is operated, even if the rigidity of the assembly in the widthwise direction of the tire is high, the assembly can be firmly sandwiched between the pair of the clasping members and hence the exciting force can be reliably applied to the assembly. After the completion of the mounting, the clamping of the nut is released, whereby the mounting assist apparatus can easily be taken off from the assembly. Moreover, if the rigidity of the assembly in the widthwise direction of the tire is not so high, it is possible to sandwich the assembly between the clasping members by a more simple means until vibration can be applied to the assembly when using a slide-preventive member comprised of a bolt slidably fitting to the elongate hole and a nut-shaped member contactly engaging with the peripheral portion of the elongate hole. When an arm member is fixed to an end portion of a rod member and another arm member is slidably attached to the rod member, the assembly can easily be sandwiched from both side surfaces between these arm members across the tread. Further, when a male portion is formed by threading the rod member and a female member is engaged with the male portion, the assembly can be firmly pushed from both side surfaces by the slidable arm members, whereby the same effect as attained in the use of the cam-shaped member can be obtained. A first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to Fig. 4. In Fig. 1 is simultaneously shown a section view of an assembly 1 including a center of rotating axis thereof and a side view of a mounting assist apparatus 10 according to the invention sandwiching the assembly 1. Fig. 2 is a plan view of only the mounting assist apparatus 10, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along a line III-III of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a schematic view partially illustrating an operating state of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2. In Figs. 1-4, an axel portion of a vehicle is omitted. In Fig. 1, the assembly 1 is formed by mounting a tire (pneumatic radial tire) 2 onto a wheel 3 and preferably inflating under a given internal pressure. The wheel 3 comprises a disc portion 3d and a rim portion 3r. Moreover, the right side of the assembly 1 is positioned on the outside in the mounting onto the vehicle at the illustrated state. In Figs. 1 and 2, a pair of opposite clasping members 11, 12 comprise arm portions 11a, 12a and sliding portions 11b, 12b slidably engaging with each other. The arm portion 11a (12a) and the sliding portion 11b (12b) may be a one-piece body (illustrated embodiment) or integrally united with each other by a fixing member and has substantially an angular shape. Moreover, numerals 11c, 12c are protection bodies of rubbery elastomer, respectively, for preventing damage to the tire when the arm portion 11a, 12a contacts with the tire during the application of vibration. The sliding portion 11b is provided with a guide hole 13 extending in the clasping direction of the assembly 1 or the widthwise direction of the tire 2. The guide hole 13 slidably houses the sliding portion 12b of the clasping member 12 so as to guide it in the widthwise direction of the tire 2 (within a distance shown by arrow A). That is, the distance between the arm portions 11a, 12a in the pair of the clasping members 11, 12 is freely adjusted. The sliding portions 11b, 12b have lengths corresponding to a range of tire size (tire width) in the assembly to be applied, provided that the length of the sliding portion 12b is sufficiently longer than the length of the sliding portion 11b. Moreover, a guide groove (not shown) such as a dovetail groove extending along the clasping direction may be used instead of the guide hole 13. In this case, the dovetail groove may be formed in the sliding portion 11b to guide the other sliding portion 12b in the same manner as described above. In Figs. 1 and 2, numeral 14 is a vibration applying machine, which is fixed to one of the clasping members. In the illustrated embodiment, the vibration applying machine 14 is merely arranged onto the sliding portion 11b, but may be arranged onto the arm portion 11a. Pressurized air is supplied into the inside of the vibration applying machine 14 from a pipe airtightly connected to a pressurized air source (not shown) through an inlet port 14a airtightly connected to the pipe, whereby a vibrator (not shown) included in the machine is actuated to generate vibrations acting on the whole of the clasping members 11, 12. The frequency applied (vibration frequency) is variable in accordance with the pressure of the pressurized air supplied and is practically within a range of 30-100 Hz. When the vibration frequency is within the above range, equal clamping force and clamping pressure can be obtained without taking specific care with regard to the clamping order of the nuts or bolts. The vibration applying machine used in this embodiment is a CH 25 machine (trade name) made by Exxon Corp., in which the vibration frequency is about 60 Hz. An elongate hole 15 extending along a distance shown by arrow A is formed in substantially a widthwise central part of the sliding portion 12b at a position opposite to the arm portion 12a. Numeral 16 is a slide-preventive member, a detail of which is shown in Fig. 3. The slide-preventive member 16 comprises a sleeve bearing 16-1 slidably fitting to the elongate hole 15 and provided at its end with a flange, a cam-shaped member 16-2 provided with a shaft rotatably supported by the bearing 16-1 or an eccentric disc in the illustrated embodiment, a nut 16-3 engaging with a male portion formed on the end portion of the sleeve bearing 16-1, and a nut 16-4 engaging with a male portion formed on the shaft of the eccentric disc 16-2. A center axial line X 1 of the eccentric disc 16-2 and a center of axis X 2 of the shaft are located so as to be separate from each other at a given distance δ, whereby the cam function of the eccentric disc 16-1 is developed with the rotating motion of the shaft. In this case, a handle 16-5 is preferably disposed on an outer periphery of the eccentric disc 16-1 and it is desirable that the center of the attaching position of the handle passes through the axial center X 2 and is an intersect between a straight line perpendicular to a plane including axial line X 1 and axial center X 2 and the above outer periphery as shown in Fig. 2. The slide-preventive member 16 is adaptable when it is required to strongly sandwich the assembly 1 between the clasping members 11, 12. If a strong sandwiching force is not required, the slide-preventive member may be comprised of a bolt loosely fitting to the elongate hole and a nut-shaped member engaging with the bolt to cause sufficient pushing force to the peripheral portion of the elongate hole, whereby the structure of the slide-preventive member can be simplified. The mounting of the assembly 1 onto the axel of the vehicle will be described with respect to a case that the assembly 1 is mounted onto an axel of hub type 5 as shown in Fig. 7. Moreover, it is common sense that the detaching of the assembly is facilitated by previously lifting the vehicle through a jack or the like. The assembly 1 provided with the tire 2 previously inflated under a given internal pressure and having an unbalance quantity of zero or a value near thereto by desirably correcting static and dynamic unbalances by means of a proper balancer is temporarily mounted onto the hub 5 of the axel through the fastening nut 7 at a proper loosened state. Thereafter, the mounting assist apparatus 10 is inset downward from an upper part of the assembly 1 as far as there is a sufficient clearance between the assembly 1 and the vehicle body, in which the clasping members 11, 12 are located to have a distance between mutual arm portions 11a, 12a exceeding the maximum width of the tire 2 and each of the arm portions 11a, 12a is disposed in the direction of rotating axial center of the assembly 1. Then, either or both of the clasping members 11, 12 are slid to apply protective members 11c, 12c arranged on the arm portions 11a, 12a to both side surfaces of the tire 2. At the same time, the slide-preventive member 16 is slid so as to be applied to the slide portion 11b of the clasping member 11 at a loosened state of the nuts 16-3, 16-4 by the guiding action of the elongate hole 15. When the slide-preventive member 16 is applied to the slide portion 11b, an outer peripheral surface of the eccentric disc 16-2 located nearest to the rotating axial center X 2 is applied to the sliding portion 11b (see Fig. 4). Then, the sleeve bearing 16-1 is firmly fixed to the sliding portion 12b of the clasping member 12 through the nut 16-3. Next, the handle 16-5 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, whereby the slide portion 11b is forcedly moved inward (toward the left side in Figs. 1 and 2) by an eccentric quantity δ at maximum through the outer peripheral surface located furthest from the rotating axial center X 2 . Fig. 2 shows a state of sliding the slide portion at the maximum eccentric quantity. If the rigidity of the sidewall portion in the assembly 1 is high, the rotation of the handle 16-5 may be stopped before the maximum eccentric quantity is reached. After the rotation of the handle 16-5 is stopped, the shaft of the eccentric disc 16-2 is firmly fixed to the sleeve bearing 16-1 through the nut 16-4. Thus, the assembly 1 is first sandwiched between the clasping members 11, 12 while sufficiently pushing the arm portions 11a, 12a (protective members 11c, 12c) onto the sidewall portions of the tire 2. The vibration applying machine 14 is actuated by supplying pressurized air while maintaining the above state to vibrate the assembly 1, during which plural fastening nuts 7, for example five fastening nuts 7 are successively clamped little by little. In this case, it is enough to ensure that no excessive clamping of the nut is caused irrespective of the clamping order of the fastening nuts. After the clamping of all the fastening nuts, the center of rotating axis of the assembly 1 is accurately arranged with the axial center of the axel in a straight line. A second embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 5 shows a simplified schematic view of an outline of an assembly 1 including a rotating axial center thereof together with a side view of a mounting assist apparatus 20 illustrating a state of sandwiching the assembly 1 likewise Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the mounting assist apparatus 20 together with a schematic view of the outer contour of the assembly 1. In Figs. 5 and 6, an axel portion of a vehicle is omitted. A pair of clasping members are a pair of arm-shaped plate members 21, 22 somewhat bent at their top portion so as to increase the portion contacting with the assembly 1. One of these plate members 21, 22, particularly the plate member 22 in the illustrated embodiment, is firmly attached and fixed to an end portion of a rod member 23, while the other plate member 21 is slidably attached to the rod member 23, whereby both the plate members 21, 22 are arranged so as to face each other and the distance therebetween is freely adjustable. Preferably, a slide assisting sleeve 21b is disposed on a slide portion of the plate member 21, and a fastening sleeve 22b is disposed onto a fastening portion of the plate member 22. Furthermore, thick solid portions 21a and 22a are rubbery elastomers developing the same function as the protective members in the first embodiment. The rod member 23 is provided with a male portion 23a threaded from the right-hand end toward the left-hand side within a range adaptable to a tire size of the assembly 1 applied to the mounting assist apparatus 20. A female member 26 engaging with the male portion 23a is fitted onto the rod member 23 before the mounting of a grip 27 onto the rod member. Preferably, a taper portion 26a facing the slide assisting sleeve 21b of the plate member 21 is formed on the female member 26 to provide a sufficient pushing contact with the slide assisting sleeve 21b and a base of the taper portion 26a is nut-shape as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Although one female member 26 is used in the illustrated embodiment, double nuts may be used for the prevention of loosening by the application of vibration. A vibration applying machine 24 which is the same as that used in the first embodiment is fixed onto the surface of the plate member 21. In this case, vibrations having a frequency of about 60 Hz are generated by supplying pressurized air through an inlet port 24a to the vibration applying machine 24 likewise the first embodiment. The mounting of the assembly onto the axel of the vehicle in the second embodiment is fundamentally the same as in the first embodiment except for the following points. That is, only the arm-shaped plate member 21 as the clasping member is freely slid, and the plate member 21 is slid while applying the plate member 22 to the assembly 1 during the inserting of the mounting assist apparatus 20 onto the assembly 1, and the firm sandwiching of the assembly 1 between the plate members 21, 22 is attained by the female member 26. The effects in the second embodiment are substantially the same as in the first embodiment. In order to confirm the effects of the first and second embodiments as compared with the conventional method, the evaluation test is carried out as follows. The assembly 1 is comprised of a radial tire for a passenger car having a tire size of 195/70R14 and a wheel having a rim contour of 14x6JJ and has a total weight of about 10 kg. After the assembly 1 is inflated under a given internal pressure, the unbalance quantity of the assembly 1 itself is made approximately zero by using a balancer capable of precisely detecting the unbalance quantity and properly correcting static and dynamic unbalances. The assembly 1 is mounted onto a vehicle and detached therefrom 10 times by means of the mounting assist apparatuses of the first and second embodiments as well as the aforementioned conventional first method, during which the unbalance quantity (gr) of the assembly 1 mounted onto the vehicle is measured by means of an on-the-car balancer every mounting. The mounting work of the assembly 1 is carried out by a general skilled worker instead of by an expert. The measured results every mounting are shown in Table 1. The smaller the unbalance quantity, the better the effect. Measuring number Dynamic unbalance quantity (gr) Conventional method First embodiment Second embodiment 1 12 3 4 2 9 1 1 3 14 5 3 4 11 4 3 5 5 2 2 6 8 3 4 7 8 2 3 8 10 4 5 9 16 4 2 10 15 3 3 average 10.8 3.1 2.9 As seen from Table 1, a considerably improved balance property is obtained in the first and second embodiments as compared with the conventional method. It should be noted that the unbalance quantity can be controlled to not more than 1/3 of the conventional method in all embodiments judging from the average value and is notably smaller than the unbalance quantity of 10 gr or more in the conventional method which may result in violent vehicle vibrations during the high-speed running of the vehicle. According to the invention, it is possible to mount the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel of the vehicle even by a generally skilled worker with high precision without eccentrically arranging the assembly irrespective of the weight of the assembly. As a result, good ride comfortability of the vehicle against vibrations is maintained and also there is caused no risk associated with vibrations during the running of the vehicle, and there is no adverse influence upon the resistance to uneven wear in the tire.

Claims: Apparatus (10;20) for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly (1) onto an axel, comprising a pair of opposite clasping members (11,12;21,22) for sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly between its side surfaces the distance between the clasping members being adjustable, characterised by a vibration applying machine (14;24) fixed to one of the clasping members (11;21), and a fastening means for temporarily fastening the clasping members at a position of sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that one of the clasping members (11) is provided at its end side with a guide hole (13) or a guide groove slidably guiding the other clasping member (12) along the clasping direction of the tire-wheel assembly. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the fastening means is a slide-preventive member (16) slidably engaging with an elongate hole (15) formed in the clasping member (12) to be guided so as to extend in the clasping direction thereof and preventing the sliding between mutual clasping members (11,12) at the position of sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the slide-preventive member (16) is comprised of a sleeve bearing (16-1) provided with a flange contactly engaging with a peripheral portion of the elongate hole (15) and slidably fitting to the elongate hole, a cam-shaped member (16-2) provided with a shaft portion rotatably supported by the bearing (16-1), a handle (16-5) for rotating the cam-shaped member, a nut (16-3) fastening the sleeve bearing (16-1) to the clasping member (12) and a nut (16-4) fastening the shaft portion to the sleeve bearing. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the slide-preventive member is comprised of a bolt slidably fitting to the elongate hole and a nut-shaped member contactly engaging with the peripheral portion of the elongate hole. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the pair of the clasping members are a pair of arm members (21,22), and one of the arm members (22) is fixed to an end portion of a rod member (23) and the other arm member (21) is slidably attached to the rod member. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the fastening means is comprised of a male portion (23a) threaded on the rod member (23) and a female member (26) engaging with the male portion and capable of pushing one of the clasping members at the position of sandwiching the tire-wheel assembly. A process for assisting the mounting of a tire-wheel assembly (1) onto an axel of a vehicle, which comprises temporarily and loosely mounting the tire-wheel assembly onto the axel of the vehicle through fastening nuts or wheel bolts, applying a pair of opposite clasping members (11,12; 21,22) to both side surfaces of the tire-wheel assembly, the distance between the clasping members being adjustable, temporarily fastening the clasping members through a fastening means so as to hold an applied state of the clasping member to the tire-wheel assembly, characterised in that vibration is applied to the clasping members through a vibration applying machine (14;24) fixed to one of the clasping members (11;21), and successively and completely clamping all of the fastening nuts or the wheel bolts while vibrating the tire-wheel assembly by the vibration applying machine to accurately arrange a center of rotating axis of the tire-wheel assembly and a center of rotating axis of the vehicle axel in a straight line.

Inventors: KAWABE HIROSHI, YAMAYA KENJIRO, KAWABE, HIROSHI, YAMAYA, KENJIRO
Applicants: BRIDGESTONE CORP, BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B60B29
IPC codes: G01M1, B60B29